Red Cross chief in Syria to meet al-Assad

Red Cross chief Peter Maurer travelled to Damascus on Monday to discuss the worsening humanitarian situation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in Geneva, dpa reported.

"At a time when more and more civilians are being exposed to extreme violence, it is of the utmost importance that we and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent succeed in significantly scaling up our humanitarian response," Maurer said.

Maurer, who took office as ICRC president in July, was planning to use his visit to push for better access to civilians and to detainees.

Since the start of the conflict, the Red Cross and the Red Crescent have distributed food and other items to nearly 180,000 people in Syria..